As urban sprawl has paved its way through the countryside, an
abundance of natural landscapes have been replaced with roads, parking lots and
buildings. The continued growth of human populations has brought forth a need
to incorporate ecological and functional plant communities into the design and
planning of living spaces. In this lecture, which is based on the book Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas
Rainer and Claudia West, Claudia will discuss practical ways to integrate better
planting into our communities so that we may again enjoy thriving green living
spaces.

Claudia will present alternatives to traditional,
mulch-based ornamental planting design and explain how to create resilient plantings
that function similar to naturally occurring plant communities. While pleasing
to the eye, these designed communities are environmentally friendly. They
filter polluted stormwater, provide habitat for wildlife, and dramatically reduce
the use of chemicals. The gardens of the future are built by plants capable of
thriving in the climate in question.

Homeowners and businesses alike can benefit from the lessons
of this presentation. By applying sustainable planting design techniques within
plant communities, beautiful gardens requiring minimal upkeep can be maintained
with the use of fewer resources such as water, mulch, fertilizer, and time. The
intelligent use of plants not only contributes to increased biodiversity, but
also improved quality of life by performing functions such as absorbing CO2, filtering
dust and dampening noise. By using the right plants for each location, balanced
ecosystems can be created, leading to healthy and sustainable living spaces.

Claudia West is the ecological sales manager at North Creek
Nurseries, a wholesale perennial grower in Landenberg, PA. Claudia holds a
Master’s Degree of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from the
Technical University of Munich, Germany. In her current role, Claudia works
closely with ecological design and restoration professionals, offering
consultation services from initial project planning stages to adaptive
management strategies after project completion. Her work is centered on the development
of stable, layered planting designs and the desire to bring American native
plants back into our landscape.

The cafe will be open for
dinner prior to the lecture from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and a dessert reception will
follow the lecture.

Cost of the lecture is $10 for members and
$14 for non-members. Space is limited. Please call (402) 346-4002, ext. 201 or
email m.sears@omahabotanicalgardens.org to register and make payment by June 20.

This lecture
is made possible by generous gifts from the Mae and Lawrence Youngman and Judy
and Jim Wigton families.